Art and its relation to music in music education Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors De Grazia, 1909- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 27/09/2021 13:16:54 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/553685 ART AND ITS RELATION TO MUSIC IN MUSIC EDUCATION Ted Etterlno De Qrazia A Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Department of Music Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Graduate College University of Arizona 19U5 Date tE 'V T '? /' & TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter page I. Looking Backward — An H istorical Review of the Field 1 of Color and Color Music Theoiy of Color Science as expounded by A ristotle, Leonardo Da Vinci, Newton, Darwin, Goethe, Helmholtz, Bering, Ostwald, and Scriabin Description of Color Music Instruments of Castel (Clavessin Oculaire), Rimington (Color Organ), Wilfred (Clavilux), and Klein (Color Projector) I I . Analysis and Reconstruction of the Moods and Forms of 19 Music, with an explanation of how these components may be interpreted in educational processes through compa­ rable abstract patterns in painting I I I . Original Psychological and Experimental Survey Admin­ 37 istered by Testing Music Art Test, based on abstract patterns Color Music Pattern Test IV. Looking ForwardA Survey of Some of the Educational 51 and Cultural Possibilities of Color Music List of Musical Compositions Interpreted by the Author 56 Bibliography / 57 1 6 7 7 7 1 01 JVM 0T WOITADIH 2TI VHA TKA m itq m z pi3UM m AJbesfD >i.i bsT aladdl A driV lo edV oV tisc d lc im nold'SD.VhJl o±5L‘ : lo ^ns i^xsqs lo d’nOftr/ LtlXyl JLe 'chrsq a> lo 99136b sdV 10I adioardiLupyr 9 ffv sdiA lo 19^26 . 939II0O e^sirbffitp erfd rtt y c> TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I. Looking Backward — An Historical Review of the Field of Color and Color Music Theory of Color Science as expounded by Aristotle, Leonardo Da Vinci, Newton, Darwin, Goethe, Helmholtz Bering, Ostwald, and Scriabin Description of Color Music Instruments of Castel (Clavessin Oculaire), Rimington (Color Organ), Wilfred (Clavilux), and Klein (Color Projector) II. Analysis and Reconstruction of the Moods and Forms of Music, with an explanation of how these components may be interpreted in educational processes through compa­ rable abstract patterns in painting III. Original Psychological and Experimental Survey Admin­ istered by Testing Music Art Test, based on abstract patterns Color Music Pattern Test IV. Looking Forward — A Survey of Some of the Educational and Cultural Possibilities of Color Music List of Musical Compositions Interpreted by the Author Bibliography LIST OF CH4KCS Jk O I. Color and Color Music, H istorical Review 6 U . Color-Music as Exemplified Tyr a Few Prominent Men and Instruments of the 18th, 19th, 20th Centuries, an H istorical Review 11 III. Comparative Pitch and Color Association Chart of a Few Men who have Experimented with Color and Sound 18 I?. Analytical and Reconstruction Chart 21 V. Spectrum Colors and Associations Suggested to Weinberg 29 VI. Color Interpretation in Terms of Psychological Influence 29 VII. Characteristics and Symbolism of Color 30 VIII. Dr. Ostwald* s Color Triangle 33 IX. Music Art Test ill X. Key to Brahms' Hungarian Danes No. 6 (used in Music Art Test) U2 XI. Diagram and Frequency Chart, Music Art Test a XII. Color Music Pattern Test U6 XIII. Score of Sibelius' Finlandia, Op. 26, beginning pf each section used in Color Music Pattern Test U7 XIV. Diagram and Frequency Chart, Color Music Pattern Test k9 - i i - Chapter I The purpose of th is thesis is to show the analogy between ausic and painting. It is proposed to review the work already done in this field insofar as it is available, giving in addition the w riter's own analogy which, while differing in some respects, yet has some connection. Music is abstract in character, perhaps not by choice bob because i t cannot be any other way; the analogy between music and painting, therefore, is naturally clearer in the abstract form of painting, "If a major a rt is to be b u ilt out of sounds i t must inevitably be an art of abstract relationship, and to make even this wholly practical the units of sound must be chosen in a very arbitrary fashion. "1 B©cause music is a language of tonal figurations varying in pitch and quality, appealing to our senses, imagination, spirit, and emotions, as well as to our intellectj because it unfolds itself im­ perceptibly from note to phrase to passage as it tells its story — because of these things, the story that must be crystallized and re­ told in painting will best fit the music if it is interpreted in an abstract way. In the book So Called Abstract Art. Merle Armitage says: "Abstract painting is in reality a positive, concrete type of painting since it confines the Interest to its immediate sensuous visual surface far more than does the canvas of a landscape or portrait. In other words, i t depends for i t s interest upon i t s own organization of color, line, and form, and not upon subject matter."2 It is true that as ire look at a painting that is a masterpiece of art which has survived through the ages, we find that what makes it great is not whether it is realistic or not, or because of its sub­ ject matter, but rather i t s merit depends upon the play of lig h t and color and the relationship of one form to another, making a composi­ tion expressive and alive. In speaking of abstract a rt in comparison with academic or real­ is tic a rt, Armitage says: "They suggest form, introduced movement, enriched surfaces, by . the apparently simplest line play and color juxtaposition. And while we are considering this matter, one of the possi­ bilities of expansion which is innate with abstract art is that it enables the artist to actually express movement and speed; which is impossible in a representational or true-to- nature picture."3 Because i t lends its e lf so readily to the qualities of sound which we desire to describe through another sense, abstract painting is the medium by which we can best show the dynamic force and the controlled tempo of motion which is apparent in music. In reviewing the work of the past in search of thoughts on color and sound, we pause for a moment to dip into philosophy where we find expressions of sim ilarity between art and music such as the following: "Thus the same elements are present in some measure in all arts. Form in sculpture and painting is represented in music by rhythm and harmony — color in spacial arts may be compared to melody and timber in music by modula­ tion of the voices. They help us to see, however, that while each art fulfills its own function, unequalled by any other, there is a great unity among the a rts, and a ll alike appeal to the whole s p irit of man."4 There is deep significance in the fact th at a ll the arts are like expressions of the human spirit. It is generally recognized that ? MS*, P- 17. h Griggs: The Philosophy of Art, p. 268. - 3 - there is a deep analogy among the arts — Basic, painting, poetry, . architecture — that erven though each is complete in its e lf and'can stand independently and alone, yet the basic elements are identical. "ELato towards the close of The Republic in one of those errors as illuminating as his insight, argues that art is but 'an imitation of an imitation1; the abstract idea, he holds, is the reality. Centuries ago Plato held that the abstract is the ultimate. It is the abstract "which allows play for the imagination. Music, by which thoughts and feelings can be communicated, leaves room for the imagi­ nation to function because of its abstract nature. So in our own age especially, when the camera has surfeited us with realism and the true- to-life possibilities of painting have been adequately developed, we must turn to abstract painting in order to have more freedom in ex­ pressing in a more creative way vihat we feel rather than what we see. Turning back once more to the past, we find that in all ages men have been busy developing art in all its possibilities. e It reached the height of i t s development during the Italian renaissance when per­ fection of color, form, anatomy, and perspective was most evident. Turning to our own century, we find a different kind of painting, a painting more creative, more expressive, a kind of painting that can show motion, speed, action. As stated above, the purpose of this thesis is to show the analogy between music and painting, so that we may have a b etter understanding of music by first analyzing it through painting, literally breaking it down into i t s components, seeing i t s structure or skeleton, weighing i t for what i t is worth; then building i t up again with visual images without detracting from its beauty but rather adding to it as we ex- perience it both through the eye and the ear.